October 28, 2021 • 45 mins
Theresa Ito, Principal at Blue Mountain Solutions talks about the three dials leaders need to keep in check, how to set up honest communication in your team, and how to accelerate the evolution of culture change.
In today's episode, you'll learn:
- The three dials leaders need to keep in check
- Why honest communication starts with the leaders first
- How to set up honest communication in your team
- How to accelerate the evolution of culture change
Visit www.kizo.ca/podcast to get extra resources or join our mailing list.
Our guest is Teresa Ito, principal of Blue Mountain Solutions, a leadership and customer service development company. Teresa has worked in leadership internationally for over 30 years and delivers sessions in person and online that are filled with leadership best practices, useful anecdotes, and a healthy dose of humor. One thing that really came across in our conversation is how passionate Teresa is about people and relationships.
Connect with Theresa on Instagram, LinkedIn, or through Blue Mountain Solutions.
Cultivate your Culture is a show that decodes how leaders can create environments where their teams do their best work and flourish. Our guests are pioneers in team dynamics and culture from the worlds of business, military and sport. Hear them share simple, straightforward techniques that you could use with your team to set up, evolve and measure culture.
The host, Zoran Stojkovic helps people build habits and behaviors that unleash their inner greatness so that they can contribute positively to the world. Through his company, Kizo, he equips organizations and people with culture and mindset tools to reach full engagement through powerful workshops, memorable keynotes, and transformative individual consultations.
Cultivate Your Culture is produced by Kizo, a leadership coaching organization helping teams to get the results they want so that they can positively impact the world. To learn more about the services Kizo can provide for your team, please check out our website at kizo.ca/about.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Zoran Stojkovic (00:03):
Hey, what's going on and welcome to
cultivate your culture. Thisshow, this podcast is where we
decode how leaders can createenvironments where their teams
do their best work and flourish.
Our guests are pioneers in teamdynamics and culture from the
worlds of business, military andsport. Hear them shares simple,
(00:23):
straightforward techniques thatyou could use with your team to
set up, evolve and measureculture. With over 92,000 hours
spent working, let's focus onthe relationships and the
results will follow. I'm yourhost, Zoran Stojkovic. And I
help people build habits andbehaviors that unleash their
inner greatness so that they cancontribute positively to the
world. Now, let's get intotoday's episode.
Theresa Ito (00:50):
Zoran, the way I think about leadership is like
I'm driving a train and you'vegot three dials on the dashboard
in front of you, you've got tomake sure all of those dials are
functioning just like a traindriver. So one of those dials is
going to be delighting yourcustomers. How delighted are
your customers. So how are yougetting feedback, then you have
the other one which is engagedemployees. And the third one is
(01:13):
your finances, because you couldhave delighted guests,
everyone's having a great timeat work and you're making no
money, the train is gonna comeoff the track.
Zoran Stojkovic (01:21):
That's Teresa Ito, principal of Blue Mountain
solutions, a leadership andcustomer service development
company. Teresa has worked inleadership internationally for
over 30 years, and deliversessions in person and online
that are filled with leadershipest practices, useful
necdotes, and a healthy dose ofumor. One thing that really
ame across in our conversations how passionate Teresa is
(01:42):
bout people and relationships.
oday, we're going to hear fromer on the three dials, leaders
ust keep in check, why honestcommunication starts with the
leaders first, and how taccelerate the evolution o
cultureMaybe I'll start right off with
with this question here. I mean,you develop leaders in teams,
Teresa, and why is it thatleaders actually struggle so
(02:05):
much with team culture?
Theresa Ito (02:08):
Because it isn't a simple formula, because it's not
a matter of just following it ascript, because it's hard,
because you're dealing withpeople. And that and that can be
complicated, because we aredifferent, all of us are
different. And, you know, torelate to people, you have to
communicate, you have tocommunicate, honestly, people
(02:30):
will see through you if youdon't communicate honestly. So
you have to understand theindividuals but also the team as
well. That's, the heart of it,understanding how to communicate
with them, what really excitespeople and work with that. It's
not just an easy formula. It'sfun, though, when you get it
(02:51):
right. It's great fun.
Zoran Stojkovic (02:54):
And so because it's not an easy formula, and
building those relationships,starts with communicating
honestly, with people. Do youthink leaders struggle with team
culture? Because they're notalways honest with people? Or is
there other? Is it that theymaybe don't know enough about
themselves?
Theresa Ito (03:14):
Yeah. And I think starting place. Yeah, you've hit
it. Absolutely. And that's whywhen we develop leaders, people
are quite surprised that thefirst two sessions are all about
them. It's nothing. We're nottalking about anybody else,
because it's about are youactually ready to be a leader?
Do you understand what it means?
Are you prepared to take thosesteps? Because people tend to
(03:34):
think about leading as it's allabout, you know, telling other
people what to do, but it'sactually the best leaders are
the lead themselves inexceptional ways long before and
then people are naturallyattracted to and find it
difficult not to follow thesepeople. Yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (03:54):
So when you say these leaders lead themselves,
are you talking about likepersonal accountability,
practice what you preach thattype of thing, or?
Theresa Ito (04:03):
I'm talking about so many things, being assertive,
being able to say clearly whatyou're actually desiring, you
know, having the courage to saythe words out loud of the things
that you most want to happen?
It's incredibly bizarre, and howI will sit with leaders of big
organizations or even smallones. And you say, well, what
(04:26):
would you like from your team?
And they tell you, and they go,and you say, fantastic. Have you
told that to your team?
[LAUGHTER] And really, theanswer has to be No, they
haven't, you know, so it's, it'sreally interesting. We have, we
have stuff that goes on in ourheads. But are we able to
articulate that in a way that wecan lead ourselves first and
(04:48):
foremost, are we looking afterourselves? Are we making sure
that we are mindful and present?
And do we feel our body correctand nourish our bodies so that
we are performing at our bestbefore we can even begin to
expect other people to performat their best. And do we model
(05:09):
that as well. So leadership isamazing. And it's such a
responsibility that, that youhave to start with yourself.
It's like, I have to say likebeing a parent, but I don't want
you to think that being a leaderis, you know, like, it's a
senior role to the, to thechildren that you're leading, I
(05:29):
don't feel it that way. But Imean it in a role that children
are watching you, and you are arole model, first and foremost.
And then if you tell them stuffthey might listen [LAUGHTER].
Zoran Stojkovic (05:39):
For sure. And that's something a couple of my
guests mentioned in season one,modeling, and the fact that you
have a lot of eyeballs on youwhen you're when you're even on.
And there's, for me, there's twotypes of leaders as well, at
least two types of leaders, butI want to break it down into
leaders who have a formal rolewithin an organization and then
(06:00):
there's those leaders who don'thave the formal role. So it's
those informal leaders. Andthose are the ones that are
sometimes forgotten. And it'snot necessarily a person that
somebody may not be a personwho's super extroverted, and may
be a quiet leader who leadsthrough example, and through eye
contact in a specific way, in aspecific situation, they can say
(06:24):
a lot that can really nudge ateam or a person in the right
direction.
Theresa Ito (06:27):
And you know, sometimes these leaders show up
in such interesting places, I'mworking with a refugee program.
And sometimes it's a young childin a family of adults, because a
young child speaks English andyou're just like, wow, this is
so incredible that this 10 yearold, is actually leaving his
parents, his aunts and unclesand grandparents. And it's a
(06:51):
beautiful thing. I think there'sspace for it, and he is going to
grow up while he is already anincredible, you know, person,
but he's going to grow up. He'salready growing up to be a great
leader.
Zoran Stojkovic (07:02):
What role do leaders play in that and
developing that diversity andcultivating that togetherness.
Theresa Ito (07:08):
So again, if you go back to who you are, and you're
open, and you're honest, and youcare about the people that you
work with, regardless of theirstation, or who reports to who,
if that's the person you are andyou bring to your workplace,
then the rest is easy. Ifsomeone arrives who comes from a
country you've never even heardof, and many people haven't even
(07:30):
heard of Jamaica, you know, andI'll tell them where I'm from
and then some people have andbut again, if you're open minded
and curious, and ask questionsand are respectful, then people
love it. And what I think aboutdiversity in teams is we know
from actual real data that makesa more successful team, you can
(07:54):
reach a much wider audience,your team is much happier when
when the team is diverse. Andyou don't have as many blind
spots, if everybody I hire in myteams are going to be similar to
me for a start. That's prettyboring, because all the meetings
everyone's going to be Yeah,yes, yes, yes, it's just, that's
not helpful. Let's not have ameeting if everyone's going to
(08:16):
agree. But also you have blindspots. So if people come from
different ages, and sexes andexperiences and countries, then
the chances of you having thisbig blind spot is much reduced,
you know, never disappears, but.
Zoran Stojkovic (08:33):
For sure, and especially if that's that
culture is cultivated in theright way, where people are
actually not working in silos.
It's a connected team, wherethose people who are different
are able to work together. Andyou I think, you hit the nail on
the head diversity is acompetitive advantage
Theresa Ito (08:52):
Oh, for sure.
Zoran Stojkovic (08:53):
Because of the blind spots, and there's
different ideas, and peoplecoming from different cultures
think differently, and they'llbe able to problem solve things
and see problems from adifferent perspective. I mean,
you're mentioning the corporatenod of everybody being yes, men
and agreeing as definitely achallenge. But I do understand
that as well. Because if thepsychological safety isn't
(09:15):
there, if the vulnerabilityisn't there to leaders, if
leaders don't show theirvulnerability.
Theresa Ito (09:21):
Then it's hard to expect others to -- you're
right.
Zoran Stojkovic (09:24):
It is.
Theresa Ito (09:25):
And you know, this is something that I will share
with my team, I will say to myteam, for example, you know, J
Will say, J Will, please, youknow, make sure that you're
going to critique this, I needit to be critiqued and remember
if I needed a cheerleader, I'dask my mom, you know, and then
and then she goes in it with awhole different you know, and
(09:46):
Brittany does her detailedfeedback with warts and all
because I need and I always sayto my team, I will make
mistakes. I would love for youto be able to catch as many as
possible, so don't feel shy tosay a hock I've done it again,
you know, because I won't knowif you think it doesn't look
right, you've got to saysomething, you know?
Zoran Stojkovic (10:07):
So you seem like a leader that's really open
to hearing feedback. What do youdo if you come into an
organization where a leaderisn't I mean, you're holding up
the mirror, and you're coming upwith some tangible metrics,
you're coming up with sometangible ideas and behavior
observations of this leader,not, I think, here's what you're
(10:27):
thinking, here's how you'rebehaving, boom, they're not
willing to see it and work onit. What do you do with that
leader to impact the culture inthe organization?
Theresa Ito (10:37):
Stephen Covey, one of his Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People, and I loveStephen Covey is seek to
understand before you'reunderstood, it's always coming
from somewhere. Sometimes it'sinsecurity, you know, but I
think if you if, myself as aconsultant coming into your
(10:57):
business, is prepared to ask theright questions, and be truly
curious. And again, I prefacethis with I'm going to ask a lot
of questions, please don't feellike they're criticizing, the
more I know about the business,the better I can help you. If
you keep things away from me, itjust takes longer, you know, so
I think it would be a matter offinding out really trying to get
(11:18):
down to, and often well, often,sometimes it's that they're just
following a pattern. And theyhave no idea no one, no one ever
helped them with the manmanagement are the people
management of, of becoming aleader. Yet, that's the most
difficult yet we promote the youknow, the finest, I don't know,
(11:40):
the the finest person on theprinting floor, she becomes a
leader yet, we don't train herin the leadership. And yet,
she's not doing what we hiredher initially to do, you know,
the best property managerbecomes the next vice president
of a property management companyyet, now he's leading people and
no one's taught him that sooften, it's, it's, if you can
(12:02):
explain the why around things,then those leaders start to open
up, but ultimately Zoran noone's going to listen to me or
you, unless they know that youreally care about them. And if
you can show them that theycare, and you can build that
trust, then the chances arethere listen. And the people who
(12:23):
feel best about themselvesproduce their best results. If
you keep that in mind, even ifyou're a cold hearted, don't
care about people kind ofleader, you're still going to
make those around you who, youknow, make them feel good about
themselves, because they'regoing to produce their best
results. And ultimately, whenthe team culture is suffering,
(12:44):
productivity is the first thingthat plummets, you know, is
productivity.
Zoran Stojkovic (12:49):
When you're saying getting people to feel
good about themselves? who arewho are on your team? How can
leaders do that if people havechallenging situations outside
of work?
Theresa Ito (13:00):
Unfortunately, sometimes work is better than
being at home for some people.
And of course, that's, that'snot desirable, but if you know,
you make you make sure that workis a safe space, you make sure
that work is an inclusive space,not only diversity, but while
everything in every way thatthey know that they can speak to
(13:21):
you, that you have a link withthem. And of course, if it's a
huge organization that they havesomeone they can go to, you
know, that that's reallyimportant that, ultimately you
feel supported, and that there'spotential for growth, and we all
want to have a purpose in life.
(13:43):
You know, and, you know, whenyou read a book, like fish or
something, and you think about,you know, the Seattle fish
market, what could beinteresting about a smelly cold
fish market, like in Seattle,you read the book fish, and you
realize why, how that ispossible. People just need a
purpose. And, and it's not aboutthe physical work they're doing.
(14:05):
It's about the environment.
Zoran Stojkovic (14:07):
I remember seeing that video for the first
time as part of a trainingcourse. And just seeing these
people really enjoying their jobinteracting with customers,
that's exceptional customerservice. They're interacting
with customers, they're havingfun,
Theresa Ito (14:21):
They're having fun.
Zoran Stojkovic (14:23):
Having fun, right? Like the throwing a fish
across to each other.
Theresa Ito (14:26):
And I've been there and they still do it.
Zoran Stojkovic (14:28):
They still do.
Theresa Ito (14:29):
All these years later. Yeah, we were there just
a few years ago, and we had toget out the way it was a smelly
fish thrown and they werelaughing and high fiving these
customers is just electric. Itwas great.
Zoran Stojkovic (14:40):
It's a performance it really is a
performance. How do you thinkthey keep the energy up
throughout the day?
Theresa Ito (14:45):
Think back to a times or and maybe you're in a
team right now. But think backto a time and often I do that
with leaders, if particularly ifthey're in a funk, if they're in
a situation where they're notperforming their best I asked
them to remember a time whenthey were in A team, and they
felt energized, and they feltsupported. And they felt
regardless of whether we win orlose, I have people around me
(15:09):
who have my back. And of course,they all know that aim. And the
idea is that it's not to lose,hope the idea is to win. And
often people will think back andthis is, again, I I'm definitely
partial to sport. I think a lotof lessons are learned on a
sports field, or in a sportshall. But it could be, it could
(15:29):
be a family, it could be a timewhen a child was ill, and your
sister arrived and your motherarrived and grandpa was there
saying, you know, how can Isupport? What can I do? That's
the same thing. You're allworking towards a goal, and
everyone has you supported. So Itry and get people to remember
that feeling. Because thatfeeling can certainly be
(15:50):
replicated, or ignited a newfeeling and a new vein of it if
you like at work. And I believethat is potential every single
team and it's very sad to methat, that people go to work and
don't have that. But I also makesure that everyone realizes that
it's not about the leader tomake that happen. We all play
(16:14):
our part to you know, it's notone person.
Zoran Stojkovic (16:17):
No, it's not.
We're all part of the culture.
And even on the teams wherepeople don't necessarily work on
culture, there's still aculture. And so I mean, Theresa
-- so what's what's at stake? Ifculture is left uncultivated?
Theresa Ito (16:34):
Wow, well, we are seeing it now. Certainly here in
BC, where we live. And I knowacross Canada, we're struggling
with, we're having such highturnover, we're finding it
difficult to fill positions,people are saying I don't want
to work here anymore. So highturnover, for sure. Productivity
(16:57):
definitely goes down. And youcan see that your customer
service scores, if you have anet promoter score, or if you
have a questionnaire that youknow is quantifiable that you
can measure, you will see itcome down. And ultimately in
your financials as well -- Zoranin the way I think about
(17:18):
leadership is like I'm driving atrain. And I've actually never
driven a train, I think I needto sometimes, but anyway, it's
like you're driving a train,you've got three dials on the
dashboard in front of you,you've got to make sure all of
those dials are functioning justlike a train driver. So one of
those dials is going to be yourdelighting your customers. How
(17:39):
delighted are your customers? Sohow are you getting feedback
from you know, your show yourpodcast? Is it to do with likes,
is it to do with feedback fromyou know, listeners, etc? Then
you have the other one, which isengaged employees, you know, so
how am I going to measure how myemployees are engaged, but you
just need to make sure thatyou've got your eye on that one
(18:01):
as well. And the third one isyour finances, because you could
have delighted guests,everyone's having a great time
at work and you're making nomoney, the train is going to
come off the track, if any ofthose three are not constantly,
and then you know, focused onall three of them. And that's
the ultimate role of a leader tomake sure those three pillars if
you like, are monitored, yeah.
And and I believe in radicaltransparency, you know, being
(18:26):
very open. So I believe insharing, you know, your average
check if your restaurant, or howmany covers you did tonight,
find something measurable, youwork with intelligent human
beings don't treat them anyless. If they want to buy it or
not, that's up to them. But you,as a leader should be sharing
(18:48):
certain amount of the financialswith if you're working towards a
budget and you're doing it onyour own, [LAUGHTER] you're
probably not going to do verywell, if you're not sharing
certainly the high level aspectsof it with your team, trust
them. Because if you put it outthere, they will come up with
ideas you have never thought of.
Zoran Stojkovic (19:08):
Interesting. So it's about having a tangible
metric and having something thatpeople can work towards
together. It's kind of like oneof those what I think of is, you
know, when the United Way,there's like the charities.
[INAUDIBLE] And you can see itpeople love that. But it's about
it's also about finding a metricthat's actually valid, reliable,
useful, because there's I mean,I'm sure there's metrics that
(19:30):
leaders can pick that aren'tjust out of curiosity, what are
your thoughts on sharing whatcompensation different people
make in an organization? How canthat impact culture?
Theresa Ito (19:41):
That's an interesting one. And I have
never worked in a corporateenvironment where that was done.
I know in my company here formyself, all of my associates
know what they're paid. Theyknow what they're paid for
projects. They know what they'repaid for the other The creation.
(20:02):
And they also know what I paymyself and I pay my husband as
well. Because I truly believeand live with radical
transparency, I would have to domore homework if someone said,
Do you think I should do it inmy business, I would have to do
my homework. The bottom line isonce you become an Executive
Leader, and you're living in thebooks, and there's, it doesn't
(20:24):
matter how many leaders thereare, you can figure out what
everyone else is being paidanyway, [LAUGHTER] if you have
any monetary sense anyway, so Iknew whatever all of all of the
other leaders were, when I wasin a lower than General Manager
position, it doesn't take arocket scientist to figure it
out, anyway.
Zoran Stojkovic (20:40):
It's one of those taboo themes that people
sometimes don't talk about. AndI think a challenging thing can
be if somebody ties their selfworth to how much they make, and
oh, this person makes more thanme. So that means they're worth
more. And that's a challengingconversation. So if people are
coming at it from thatperspective, it could be really
tricky, or if there'sperformance bonuses, but people
(21:00):
don't believe that this personshould be getting a performance
bonus, because X, Y, Z, so thatcan really chip at the culture
if it's not done the right way.
And I love what you said aroundit being very individualized,
based on the organization. Thething that I always come back to
when I think of culture is, it'sgreat. It's this word that gets
(21:21):
thrown around. It's important.
People know, it's importantpeople put in work to build it.
But it's notoriously hard tomeasure it. So I mean, how can
leaders measure and analyze teamculture, Theresa?
Theresa Ito (21:37):
Well, I'm a big believer in employee engagement
surveys, I do believe that youcan do a short survey, I'm not
really into the huge long ones.
But I do like periodic employeeengagement surveys, we're
talking five to 10 questions.
And certainly the 80% of themremain exactly the same every
(22:00):
every quarter if you're doing itevery quarter, or every six
months or every year. Becausethat's going to you have to have
a measuring stick, you can youcan make the others fluid, you
know, at the bottom, but thecore is going to be so that you
can see how you have increasedor decreased. But yeah, I truly
believe in employment, thingshave got so much easier as well
(22:22):
with tools like Survey Monkey,you know. So I mean, I can set
them up very inexpensively forclients. And certainly, with my
corporate experience of havingworked with Fairmont and Hilton
and the Meridian and Sandals, Ihave a great sense of what great
companies do and you know, soyeah, I feel very comfortable
(22:44):
with that. And, and I believethat just offering opportunities
for people to state how they'refeeling and the more you do that
in, in your meetings, your oneon ones, nothing will be a
surprise, you know, and, again,you're looking at the masses,
you'll always have those thatare highly motivated they could
(23:06):
be clearing the garbage fromfrom the back alley, and they're
highly motivated to do that. Andyou'll always have the ones who
are fairly negative. But if youfocus on the majority, that 80%
In the middle, you will you canand will move to a more positive
team culture, you try and get --you try and make sure everyone
(23:28):
is touched. You give the sameopportunities, your fair and
equal, but just know in yourheart that if you get stuck
focusing on that bottom group,it's gonna wear you down.
Zoran Stojkovic (23:38):
Right before COVID, some February, and the
beginning of March 2020. I gotto see Simon Sinek live Oh, wow.
Which was on Unreal, unreal. Andone of the things that he said
is, when you're doing whenyou're doing public speaking,
if, like I said, if I keeplooking at the people who got
their arms crossed, who aren'tengaging with me, I'm going to
(23:59):
be scared on the stage. So Ialso want to be looking at the
people who are nodding theirheads or making eye contact
taking notes. So in a similarway, what I'm hearing you say
is, yeah, focus on the peoplewho are bought into the culture,
maybe don't look so much of thepeople who aren't, but maybe
there's a time to do that aswell. But then if you can get
(24:19):
the third that's in the middleis kind of on the fence if you
can get them to buy in. And tojoin this side, you're gonna
have a critical mass.
Theresa Ito (24:26):
Yes, the tipping point. Right, yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (24:29):
The tipping point you cross that bridge.
Theresa Ito (24:32):
I've joined so many teams that were broken or
disillusioned or not, you know,dysfunctional, I would have to
say over the years in differentcountries and in different in
different businesses, and justbringing my best self to work
and saying out loud, presentingout loud, and everything I do is
(24:56):
making sure people knew what Iwas going for. Were we were and
then the one becomes three andthe three becomes six, and then
and then it just goes on it, itbecomes infectious. But also in
that time, you you and you willattract those great people and
you become the super attractorlike Gabby Bernstein wrote
about, you know, but also thatyou have to be aware and okay
(25:19):
with the fact that some peopleare going to leave you, and you
want them to I mean, you don'tpush them, they, but they
naturally they will think youknow what, I'm not, I don't want
this. And that's okay, let themgo with good grace, you know,
but you will attract the rightpeople, if you are sharing what
(25:41):
you're what you're doing. Butyou have to be a great
communicator.
Zoran Stojkovic (25:45):
Having the conversations, because
essentially, that's howrelationships are built and
after coaching somebody andgetting employee feedback and
doing things, there's stillgoing to be people that don't
fit in. And as you're saying,they might self select and leave
and find a space where they canbe the way they are. Whatever
that means. What I've heard aswell, and this is a saying
(26:08):
people always chuckle at if youcan't change the people, change
the people.
Theresa Ito (26:13):
Oh [LAUGHTER], interesting. I haven't heard
that one.
Zoran Stojkovic (26:16):
And I don't know where I heard it. So I
can't I can't quote the source.
But it just always stuck withme. Because I think sometimes
we're too quick to let people goand to to kind of lose hope and
not, you know, believe thatpeople can't change. But other
times, after a number ofattempts haven't come through, I
think there comes a point wherethe best thing for the team, and
(26:37):
the leader has to be the onethat make that decision is to,
to part ways with this person orpeople.
Theresa Ito (26:46):
And I so believe in people that even when my gut,
and my instinct is telling me,this particular person, don't
waste your time, don't import.
And I still do it anyway, tworeasons. Number one, I have had
it happen so many times thatthat person goes, Oh, thank you
(27:07):
for giving me this clear, intheir own words. Thank you for
giving me this clear guidance.
No one's ever told me like thatbefore. Thank you. And they go
off and do something about it.
And I'm just like, what happenedthere? And everyone else is
like, wow, look at him go now.
So that's one thing. Secondthing is everybody else is
(27:29):
watching you, your whole team iswatching you. So you have
someone failing, imagine it.
Imagine in your family you haveone of your children is failing.
Everyone else is watching howyou're going to handle that
because there's going to be atime that they're going to be
failing to. So they want to seethat you're going to be open,
you're going to be supportive.
If it's temporary, you're goingto prop them up, give them
(27:51):
everything they need to succeed,right. And that's an ultimately,
that's sending a big message toyou know, how am I? How am I
speaking about it? How am Itruly supporting it? Do I
support them up front? And thenbehind them? Like, oh, boy, he's
just a total waste of time? Oram I really genuine with it, you
know that. And it goes to eventimes that you do have to
(28:13):
release people. Andunfortunately, I've had to do
that once or twice, well,probably three or four times in
my career. And each of thosetimes, I'm very proud to say
hasn't been with a kick up thebackside as the person's going.
We tend to think of whensomeone's let go, we have to
make it a disgrace, callsecurity and marching off the
(28:34):
property handover your keys nowand I think this is so old
school and cruel and absolutelycruel. There are ways even apart
from yes, if someone has stolenfrom you, if someone has done
something really terrible, theydo need to leave immediately, I
get that. But do but do we speakabout them terribly after we
don't have to? It could be youknow, well, it doesn't mean that
(28:57):
everything they did beyondbefore today was disgraceful.
And and I really I do believethe rest of the team is watching
when you do that. And I justdon't believe that someone goes
from being a member of your teamto be an outcast the next day
because they did to resign orsomething. Yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (29:15):
That's interesting. It reminded me the
releasing people and there is asyou said, there was a time for
that. And it's there's a rightway to do that. There's a
company and I can't think of thename. And they have this policy
that anybody in the company canask any other employee,
including the CEO could put in acase that this person should be
(29:36):
fired. And then these two peoplego in front of the not the
tribunal but in front of thepeople
Theresa Ito (29:43):
The board, yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (29:44):
Yeah. I mean, but I think in front of their
colleagues.
Theresa Ito (29:47):
Wow.
Zoran Stojkovic (29:47):
And they have to this person who is challenged
that they should be leaving hasto defend why they want to stay.
Theresa Ito (29:55):
Wow.
Zoran Stojkovic (29:55):
They find what that is sometimes people
actually do realize It's asignal that, hey, you're
actually not fitting in. Andmaybe there's a better space for
you and your personaldevelopment. And so although it
sounds super daunting[LAUGHTER], and I think the CEO
said, nobody's asked to have himfired before kind of thing
(30:17):
[LAUGHTER], so there's stillpower dynamic.
Theresa Ito (30:19):
Yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (30:19):
But it's it sort of makes it more equal. And
it lets people voice whatthey're thinking. And I think
it's a unique way to resolvediscourse, disagreement
argument, different viewpoints,bias, and stuff like that.
Theresa Ito (30:34):
Oh, it sounds horrible. [LAUGHTER] You know,
when I think when I think aboutbuilding trust, and and the fact
that you and I could have aprivate conversation, if I felt
there was something you saidwrong in a group, or you could
say to me, can I have aconversation then you say
Theresa the way you rolled youreyes when I said, when I
mentioned this in a group, Ifelt disrespected. I want I want
(30:59):
that you can come to me and saythat rather than put me in the
market square by the news.
[LAUGHTER]
Zoran Stojkovic (31:07):
Yeah, for sure.
And I think --
Theresa Ito (31:09):
[LAUGHTER] It's
Zoran Stojkovic (31:11):
It is.
Theresa Ito (31:12):
I like to play the ggame but not in real life.
Zoran Stojkovic (31:15):
No, simulation, for sure.
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(31:59):
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your team's culture, check outinnerlogic.com.
So Teresa, we have a questionfrom one of our listeners. His
name is Christian Rabb. And he'sfrom the Laurentians in ski
(32:21):
country north of Montreal. SoChristian asks, How can leaders
accelerate the evolution ofculture?
Theresa Ito (32:29):
Some would say the Speed of Trust in and they say,
people, relationships buildslowly. I do believe that. But
ultimately, what does speed teamculture is more people that
believe in what you believe in.
So having like minded, thatdoesn't mean clones of who you
(32:52):
are, you still want thatdiversity. So but but people who
ultimately want the same thingthat you do so surrounding
yourself with people who believein something, so there is power
in numbers, no doubt. So havingpeople that also believe in, I
remember one property I startedat, then I had two other
(33:13):
significant, I was the generalmanager, then I had two other
significant leaders who weretotally in alignment with where
we were moving the propertytowards. And I felt the sense
and I like, they, I receivedthose two leaders about three
months after, and I felt thesense like, I'm not on my own
anymore. And then I remember sixmonths later, there was probably
(33:36):
another three leaders who hadjoined us, you know, the company
was growing and then I feltlike, Okay, we got this wasn't
before it felt like, I was a bitof a lone wolf. And I'm more of
a wolf pack. [LAUGHTER] Yes. Sothat would be having people what
was the second part of thequestion?
Zoran Stojkovic (33:57):
So he also asked, how do you change a bad
culture?
Theresa Ito (34:02):
Oh, okay. Time, honesty, communication. Holding
people accountable. Feedback,giving feedback. And I mean,
when you see someone doingsomething, let's say someone
(34:23):
responds to an email to anunhappy customer. And you see
that email, you're like, Damn,that's really great. Then call
Manu and ask her Manu, I readthat email from that you sent
that guest. That'sextraordinary. I love the way
you did that. So it's feedbackboth ways. We tend to think
feedbacks always negative,absolutely not. You know, so
(34:45):
find so many. There are so manythings around instead of going
right then say it, you know, tothe point that I mean, I came in
the other day, I said, I justlove working with you, Nadia, I
just feel like we're just movingin the same direction and you
know, and she hasn't doneanything. She's like, Oh, thank
you very much. But it's honest,and it's transparent. But it
(35:06):
also makes it a lot easier whenI have to have those
conversations where the feedbackisn't or, but also, I expect
that from her to say, Theresa,I'm not sure if you noticed this
spelling error in your jobposting. I know you've already
sent it out. But can you run itby me before you do? That's what
I'm here for. And she'sabsolutely junior to me. But all
(35:27):
of a sudden, she's supervaluable to me, too.
Zoran Stojkovic (35:30):
So you're essentially reaching across the
aisle first, to share thispositive feedback of what people
are doing well. And then you'resaying that invites them to
later on as you do that more andmore often? To give you some of
the feedback that you need tohear. You don't want them doing
the the corporate nod and justbe, no.
Theresa Ito (35:51):
No, not at all.
When I walk through theproperty. For example, if I'm
back to being a hotel manager,you know, I want people to say,
hey, you know, Theresa, have alook at this, this has been
leaking for three weeks now, orthree days now, or three hours,
whatever it might be. And youknow, and we've reported it, and
I don't know what it is, and Igo, thank you very much. I'll
(36:11):
follow up with maintenance. AndI don't want maintenance to "Oh,
did he complain to you?" No,it's yes, he bought stuff to
you. I'm trying really hard toget the part. This is where I'm
struggling. That's what I wantto hear. That's when I know the
culture is great. But if I'mgoing to walk past and I'm going
to say, Good morning, Zoran. Andyou're going to go morning,
Theresa, and we're all holdinghands and singing Kumbaya and no
one's being honest, then. Andreally, are we really aiming
(36:35):
towards those three things? Howare we delighting the customers?
How are we, you know, engagedemployees, we're not. I remember
one property when I said, I wanteveryone to take personal
responsibility, because we had away to go to raise this property
up. And I let all the team knowI was new into this property.
And I met with them all in theirtime, the morning team in the
(36:57):
morning, afternoon and night.
Well, three nights later, I gota phone call at two o'clock in
the morning. And the gentlemanon the end of the phone, I'll do
my Jamaican accent. Yeah, MissDickinson. It's dread. And this
pool chemical not working atall. And he was phoning me up.
He was the night cleaner ofround the pool deck. And he felt
(37:21):
compelled. And I applauded him.
And I told the whole team that Igot a call at two o'clock in the
morning, they were just like,what? And I said, Because dread
works from 11pm at night toseven in the morning. And he he
heard from my voice three daysearlier, care about your area,
let me know if there's somethingand he was telling me that the
chemical just simply wasn't goodenough. And that there was one
(37:41):
he had used. It was blue incolor. And about seven years
ago, we found it, it wasexpensive. But boy, did it work.
[LAUGHTER] And we got it in?
Yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (37:53):
Wow. That that's a great example of this,
you know, you building thattrust to those team meetings and
really being open andvulnerable, and also
communicating your ownexpectations of values. And then
people when people are clear onthat, they can know how to
engage you. And then yourewarded him by saying, Wow,
good for you for taking -- Ithink you call it personal
(38:16):
responsibility for your role.
And because you mentioned thatat the next meeting, it probably
invited more people to do it notto call you at 2am necessarily,
but
Theresa Ito (38:26):
But you know what, sorry, if calling me at 2am What
was that doing that wasdelighting the guests by getting
a cleaner pool deck that wasengaging him because he's
frustrated at work that they --he's been getting a substandard
and expected to have a sparklingpool deck. No one's actually
asking him why. And thirdly,yes, the financials of it. It
(38:48):
was more expensive. I justexplained it to him. Listen,
this one comes from Ecolab. Thisone comes from wherever. And he
said, But Miss Dickinson, youhaven't seen me work at it. That
was my previous name. And Isaid, What do you mean? And he
said, We don't need half as muchof this chemical. You just you
see me tomorrow morning. And hesaid when I came into property,
I heard him say, here she comes.
Here she comes. I hope you haveyour sunglasses on. Because it
(39:09):
sparkles so nicely. [LAUGHTER]
Zoran Stojkovic (39:15):
Thank you so much. I think Christian will be
super happy with that answer.
Theresa Ito (39:19):
Yeah. Thanks, Christian.
Zoran Stojkovic (39:21):
So your company, Blue Mountain Solutions
offers leadership developmentand customer service training.
Tell us about how you do thatwith organizations.
Theresa Ito (39:32):
Yeah, well, the reason why we do it and I love
Simon Sinek and that's, youknow, start with why, right. And
so when I think about why we doit is we just feel that there
are easier ways. We don't wantpeople to be unhappy about being
leaders and oh, it's difficultto lead people. No, it's
invigorating. It's exciting.
It's, where you can multiplyyour worth. It's, where it's at,
(39:55):
and we just think that we canhelp you get there. And you
don't have to go through allthose trials and tribulations
yourself. Same with customerservice, there are so many ways
to show it. Particularly now,when everyone is nervous about
going back into the public, youknow, there are things that we
(40:16):
can do that just warmingpeople's heart. And also no one
else is doing them. So you know,you look like a rock star when
you're doing some pretty basicthings like a handwritten note
to an employee, when a leaderdoes that saying, Thank you for
sticking with me, for the lastdifficult three months when we
were closed for two days, andwhatever it may be a handwritten
(40:38):
note from a leader, when lasthave you got one, you know, it's
just brilliant. So what we do iswe do leadership development,
that's four days over fourmonths, so that the information
has a chance to really sink in,they have a chance to try it.
And then it really slowly shiftsthe culture, I start with the
(41:01):
leaders. And then we move on toall the colleagues and do
customer service and colleaguedevelopment as well. But before
all of that we always do amystery guest that's part of it
as well, we come in and look atyour business from a customer's
perspective. So regardless ofwhat business you do, I come
like a customer, and deal withwhoever I would normally deal
(41:22):
with, I check out your website,we do a full factual report on
it before I get involved withyou as a business so I'm
refreshed as can be. And I getto question everything, and it's
documented the good, the bad,and the ugly. And then we know
where the opportunities lie,then I speak to the leaders find
out from them what they'restruggling with, speak to the
(41:42):
colleagues and then we set anaction plan and, and make people
happier. [LAUGHTER]
Zoran Stojkovic (41:48):
That's amazing.
So you go in as a mystery guest?
Theresa Ito (41:52):
Every time.
Zoran Stojkovic (41:52):
And how you don't think they they warn their
team that you're coming in?
Theresa Ito (41:57):
No.
Zoran Stojkovic (41:57):
Hey, guys, do your best behavior. Teresa's
coming in.
Theresa Ito (42:01):
[LAUGHTER] But I never go in as as my name.
[LAUGHTER]
Zoran Stojkovic (42:04):
Oh.
Theresa Ito (42:05):
I go in under a pseudonym. And yeah, and I go in
with different people. Sosometimes I'm with an elderly
person, sometimes I'm with adog, if it's a dog friendly
area. Sometimes it's by phone,but it's in person wherever
possible. But then again, ifthey're, phone focused, and over
(42:26):
the last 18 months, mostbusinesses have been then it was
several, several phone calls,several visits of the website,
where do things go? How or whenwas I responded to, and again by
by recording everything veryfactually. Then we sit down and
we're able to pull out some realgems and a good starting point
(42:46):
of an action plan. And yeah,it's fun, though. But the
mystery guests, I mean,literally, I am going to Jamaica
this time. Next week, I'll be inJamaica, on a mystery guest day
and no, I won't tell you whereI'm going and under what name
for for three nights before Iwork with the clients. I did it
in Mexico as well. And yeah, so.
Zoran Stojkovic (43:07):
that's not too bad. You get to go on vacation,
and --
Theresa Ito (43:10):
And my husband's an executive chef, so they get get
his eyes on things too. Right.
They get his so but between usthere's probably I don't know
eight years of experience in --Yeah. When we do hotels and
restaurants anyway.
Zoran Stojkovic (43:24):
if people are wanting to connect, ask you
questions. I know you're you'reon a lot of the social media
channels, what's the best wayfor people to connect with you
and to find out more about thecompany?
Theresa Ito (43:33):
Definitely bluemountain.solutions is the
company website, Instagram, it'ssimply bluemountainsolutions on
Instagram and LinkedIn. I'mTeresa Ito. So however you wish
to contact me by any of thoseways, myself and my husband and
all of our associates. workhere, so.
Zoran Stojkovic (43:54):
Amazing.
Theresa, any parting thoughtsfor listeners?
Theresa Ito (43:58):
Be kind, realize that the people you work with
you probably spend more timewith them than the people you're
married to. So if you can reallyhave fun at work, not at the
expense of anyone else, buttruly connect with the people
you work with understand theirlanguage, that could be their
language of appreciation, thenyou really get to have some fun
(44:21):
work should be fun as well,yeah. I love what I do, and we
love what we do. And yeah, Ihope I hope this has been
entertaining. [LAUGHTER]
Zoran Stojkovic (44:32):
There's a ton I learned in the conversation with
Theresa. But if there's onething I want you to take away,
it's this as a leader start bycommunicating clearly, openly
and directly. Let people knowwhat they're doing well, and
that will open up the door forthem to give you feedback as
well in turn that will boostemployee engagement and
cultivate a cohesive culture onyour team. Join us next time for
(44:53):
a conversation with Rita Severfrom supervision matters as we
deep dive into how to cultivateEquity and Inclusion And why
that's a competitive advantagefor any team.
Hey, thanks for listening tocultivate your culture. I hope
you enjoyed our deep dive intohow to level up the
relationships and environment tocultivate your team's culture.
(45:16):
If you enjoyed this episode,share it with someone in your
life, leave a rating andsubscribe visit Kizo.ca/podcast
to get extra resources and joinour email list. A huge shoutout
to Teriyaki from earbuds forproducing the music for this
show and to Kate Leavitt andSilvio Canale-Parola for helping
produce and promote the show.
Cultivate Your Cultures producedby Kizo, a leadership coaching
(45:38):
organization helping teams toget the results they want so
that they can positively impactthe world. To learn more about
the services Kizo can providefor your team, please checkout
our website at kizo.ca/team. Seeyou again next week.
Hey, what's going on and welcome to
cultivate your culture. Thisshow, this podcast is where we
decode how leaders can createenvironments where their teams
do their best work and flourish.
Our guests are pioneers in teamdynamics and culture from the
worlds of business, military andsport. Hear them shares simple,
(00:23):
straightforward techniques thatyou could use with your team to
set up, evolve and measureculture. With over 92,000 hours
spent working, let's focus onthe relationships and the
results will follow. I'm yourhost, Zoran Stojkovic. And I
help people build habits andbehaviors that unleash their
inner greatness so that they cancontribute positively to the
world. Now, let's get intotoday's episode.
Theresa Ito (00:50):
Zoran, the way I think about leadership is like
I'm driving a train and you'vegot three dials on the dashboard
in front of you, you've got tomake sure all of those dials are
functioning just like a traindriver. So one of those dials is
going to be delighting yourcustomers. How delighted are
your customers. So how are yougetting feedback, then you have
the other one which is engagedemployees. And the third one is
(01:13):
your finances, because you couldhave delighted guests,
everyone's having a great timeat work and you're making no
money, the train is gonna comeoff the track.
Zoran Stojkovic (01:21):
That's Teresa Ito, principal of Blue Mountain
solutions, a leadership andcustomer service development
company. Teresa has worked inleadership internationally for
over 30 years, and deliversessions in person and online
that are filled with leadershipest practices, useful
necdotes, and a healthy dose ofumor. One thing that really
ame across in our conversations how passionate Teresa is
(01:42):
bout people and relationships.
oday, we're going to hear fromer on the three dials, leaders
ust keep in check, why honestcommunication starts with the
leaders first, and how taccelerate the evolution o
cultureMaybe I'll start right off with
with this question here. I mean,you develop leaders in teams,
Teresa, and why is it thatleaders actually struggle so
(02:05):
much with team culture?
Theresa Ito (02:08):
Because it isn't a simple formula, because it's not
a matter of just following it ascript, because it's hard,
because you're dealing withpeople. And that and that can be
complicated, because we aredifferent, all of us are
different. And, you know, torelate to people, you have to
communicate, you have tocommunicate, honestly, people
(02:30):
will see through you if youdon't communicate honestly. So
you have to understand theindividuals but also the team as
well. That's, the heart of it,understanding how to communicate
with them, what really excitespeople and work with that. It's
not just an easy formula. It'sfun, though, when you get it
(02:51):
right. It's great fun.
Zoran Stojkovic (02:54):
And so because it's not an easy formula, and
building those relationships,starts with communicating
honestly, with people. Do youthink leaders struggle with team
culture? Because they're notalways honest with people? Or is
there other? Is it that theymaybe don't know enough about
themselves?
Theresa Ito (03:14):
Yeah. And I think starting place. Yeah, you've hit
it. Absolutely. And that's whywhen we develop leaders, people
are quite surprised that thefirst two sessions are all about
them. It's nothing. We're nottalking about anybody else,
because it's about are youactually ready to be a leader?
Do you understand what it means?
Are you prepared to take thosesteps? Because people tend to
(03:34):
think about leading as it's allabout, you know, telling other
people what to do, but it'sactually the best leaders are
the lead themselves inexceptional ways long before and
then people are naturallyattracted to and find it
difficult not to follow thesepeople. Yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (03:54):
So when you say these leaders lead themselves,
are you talking about likepersonal accountability,
practice what you preach thattype of thing, or?
Theresa Ito (04:03):
I'm talking about so many things, being assertive,
being able to say clearly whatyou're actually desiring, you
know, having the courage to saythe words out loud of the things
that you most want to happen?
It's incredibly bizarre, and howI will sit with leaders of big
organizations or even smallones. And you say, well, what
(04:26):
would you like from your team?
And they tell you, and they go,and you say, fantastic. Have you
told that to your team?
[LAUGHTER] And really, theanswer has to be No, they
haven't, you know, so it's, it'sreally interesting. We have, we
have stuff that goes on in ourheads. But are we able to
articulate that in a way that wecan lead ourselves first and
(04:48):
foremost, are we looking afterourselves? Are we making sure
that we are mindful and present?
And do we feel our body correctand nourish our bodies so that
we are performing at our bestbefore we can even begin to
expect other people to performat their best. And do we model
(05:09):
that as well. So leadership isamazing. And it's such a
responsibility that, that youhave to start with yourself.
It's like, I have to say likebeing a parent, but I don't want
you to think that being a leaderis, you know, like, it's a
senior role to the, to thechildren that you're leading, I
(05:29):
don't feel it that way. But Imean it in a role that children
are watching you, and you are arole model, first and foremost.
And then if you tell them stuffthey might listen [LAUGHTER].
Zoran Stojkovic (05:39):
For sure. And that's something a couple of my
guests mentioned in season one,modeling, and the fact that you
have a lot of eyeballs on youwhen you're when you're even on.
And there's, for me, there's twotypes of leaders as well, at
least two types of leaders, butI want to break it down into
leaders who have a formal rolewithin an organization and then
(06:00):
there's those leaders who don'thave the formal role. So it's
those informal leaders. Andthose are the ones that are
sometimes forgotten. And it'snot necessarily a person that
somebody may not be a personwho's super extroverted, and may
be a quiet leader who leadsthrough example, and through eye
contact in a specific way, in aspecific situation, they can say
(06:24):
a lot that can really nudge ateam or a person in the right
direction.
Theresa Ito (06:27):
And you know, sometimes these leaders show up
in such interesting places, I'mworking with a refugee program.
And sometimes it's a young childin a family of adults, because a
young child speaks English andyou're just like, wow, this is
so incredible that this 10 yearold, is actually leaving his
parents, his aunts and unclesand grandparents. And it's a
(06:51):
beautiful thing. I think there'sspace for it, and he is going to
grow up while he is already anincredible, you know, person,
but he's going to grow up. He'salready growing up to be a great
leader.
Zoran Stojkovic (07:02):
What role do leaders play in that and
developing that diversity andcultivating that togetherness.
Theresa Ito (07:08):
So again, if you go back to who you are, and you're
open, and you're honest, and youcare about the people that you
work with, regardless of theirstation, or who reports to who,
if that's the person you are andyou bring to your workplace,
then the rest is easy. Ifsomeone arrives who comes from a
country you've never even heardof, and many people haven't even
(07:30):
heard of Jamaica, you know, andI'll tell them where I'm from
and then some people have andbut again, if you're open minded
and curious, and ask questionsand are respectful, then people
love it. And what I think aboutdiversity in teams is we know
from actual real data that makesa more successful team, you can
(07:54):
reach a much wider audience,your team is much happier when
when the team is diverse. Andyou don't have as many blind
spots, if everybody I hire in myteams are going to be similar to
me for a start. That's prettyboring, because all the meetings
everyone's going to be Yeah,yes, yes, yes, it's just, that's
not helpful. Let's not have ameeting if everyone's going to
(08:16):
agree. But also you have blindspots. So if people come from
different ages, and sexes andexperiences and countries, then
the chances of you having thisbig blind spot is much reduced,
you know, never disappears, but.
Zoran Stojkovic (08:33):
For sure, and especially if that's that
culture is cultivated in theright way, where people are
actually not working in silos.
It's a connected team, wherethose people who are different
are able to work together. Andyou I think, you hit the nail on
the head diversity is acompetitive advantage
Theresa Ito (08:52):
Oh, for sure.
Zoran Stojkovic (08:53):
Because of the blind spots, and there's
different ideas, and peoplecoming from different cultures
think differently, and they'llbe able to problem solve things
and see problems from adifferent perspective. I mean,
you're mentioning the corporatenod of everybody being yes, men
and agreeing as definitely achallenge. But I do understand
that as well. Because if thepsychological safety isn't
(09:15):
there, if the vulnerabilityisn't there to leaders, if
leaders don't show theirvulnerability.
Theresa Ito (09:21):
Then it's hard to expect others to -- you're
right.
Zoran Stojkovic (09:24):
It is.
Theresa Ito (09:25):
And you know, this is something that I will share
with my team, I will say to myteam, for example, you know, J
Will say, J Will, please, youknow, make sure that you're
going to critique this, I needit to be critiqued and remember
if I needed a cheerleader, I'dask my mom, you know, and then
and then she goes in it with awhole different you know, and
(09:46):
Brittany does her detailedfeedback with warts and all
because I need and I always sayto my team, I will make
mistakes. I would love for youto be able to catch as many as
possible, so don't feel shy tosay a hock I've done it again,
you know, because I won't knowif you think it doesn't look
right, you've got to saysomething, you know?
Zoran Stojkovic (10:07):
So you seem like a leader that's really open
to hearing feedback. What do youdo if you come into an
organization where a leaderisn't I mean, you're holding up
the mirror, and you're coming upwith some tangible metrics,
you're coming up with sometangible ideas and behavior
observations of this leader,not, I think, here's what you're
(10:27):
thinking, here's how you'rebehaving, boom, they're not
willing to see it and work onit. What do you do with that
leader to impact the culture inthe organization?
Theresa Ito (10:37):
Stephen Covey, one of his Seven Habits of Highly
Effective People, and I loveStephen Covey is seek to
understand before you'reunderstood, it's always coming
from somewhere. Sometimes it'sinsecurity, you know, but I
think if you if, myself as aconsultant coming into your
(10:57):
business, is prepared to ask theright questions, and be truly
curious. And again, I prefacethis with I'm going to ask a lot
of questions, please don't feellike they're criticizing, the
more I know about the business,the better I can help you. If
you keep things away from me, itjust takes longer, you know, so
I think it would be a matter offinding out really trying to get
(11:18):
down to, and often well, often,sometimes it's that they're just
following a pattern. And theyhave no idea no one, no one ever
helped them with the manmanagement are the people
management of, of becoming aleader. Yet, that's the most
difficult yet we promote the youknow, the finest, I don't know,
(11:40):
the the finest person on theprinting floor, she becomes a
leader yet, we don't train herin the leadership. And yet,
she's not doing what we hiredher initially to do, you know,
the best property managerbecomes the next vice president
of a property management companyyet, now he's leading people and
no one's taught him that sooften, it's, it's, if you can
(12:02):
explain the why around things,then those leaders start to open
up, but ultimately Zoran noone's going to listen to me or
you, unless they know that youreally care about them. And if
you can show them that theycare, and you can build that
trust, then the chances arethere listen. And the people who
(12:23):
feel best about themselvesproduce their best results. If
you keep that in mind, even ifyou're a cold hearted, don't
care about people kind ofleader, you're still going to
make those around you who, youknow, make them feel good about
themselves, because they'regoing to produce their best
results. And ultimately, whenthe team culture is suffering,
(12:44):
productivity is the first thingthat plummets, you know, is
productivity.
Zoran Stojkovic (12:49):
When you're saying getting people to feel
good about themselves? who arewho are on your team? How can
leaders do that if people havechallenging situations outside
of work?
Theresa Ito (13:00):
Unfortunately, sometimes work is better than
being at home for some people.
And of course, that's, that'snot desirable, but if you know,
you make you make sure that workis a safe space, you make sure
that work is an inclusive space,not only diversity, but while
everything in every way thatthey know that they can speak to
(13:21):
you, that you have a link withthem. And of course, if it's a
huge organization that they havesomeone they can go to, you
know, that that's reallyimportant that, ultimately you
feel supported, and that there'spotential for growth, and we all
want to have a purpose in life.
(13:43):
You know, and, you know, whenyou read a book, like fish or
something, and you think about,you know, the Seattle fish
market, what could beinteresting about a smelly cold
fish market, like in Seattle,you read the book fish, and you
realize why, how that ispossible. People just need a
purpose. And, and it's not aboutthe physical work they're doing.
(14:05):
It's about the environment.
Zoran Stojkovic (14:07):
I remember seeing that video for the first
time as part of a trainingcourse. And just seeing these
people really enjoying their jobinteracting with customers,
that's exceptional customerservice. They're interacting
with customers, they're havingfun,
Theresa Ito (14:21):
They're having fun.
Zoran Stojkovic (14:23):
Having fun, right? Like the throwing a fish
across to each other.
Theresa Ito (14:26):
And I've been there and they still do it.
Zoran Stojkovic (14:28):
They still do.
Theresa Ito (14:29):
All these years later. Yeah, we were there just
a few years ago, and we had toget out the way it was a smelly
fish thrown and they werelaughing and high fiving these
customers is just electric. Itwas great.
Zoran Stojkovic (14:40):
It's a performance it really is a
performance. How do you thinkthey keep the energy up
throughout the day?
Theresa Ito (14:45):
Think back to a times or and maybe you're in a
team right now. But think backto a time and often I do that
with leaders, if particularly ifthey're in a funk, if they're in
a situation where they're notperforming their best I asked
them to remember a time whenthey were in A team, and they
felt energized, and they feltsupported. And they felt
regardless of whether we win orlose, I have people around me
(15:09):
who have my back. And of course,they all know that aim. And the
idea is that it's not to lose,hope the idea is to win. And
often people will think back andthis is, again, I I'm definitely
partial to sport. I think a lotof lessons are learned on a
sports field, or in a sportshall. But it could be, it could
(15:29):
be a family, it could be a timewhen a child was ill, and your
sister arrived and your motherarrived and grandpa was there
saying, you know, how can Isupport? What can I do? That's
the same thing. You're allworking towards a goal, and
everyone has you supported. So Itry and get people to remember
that feeling. Because thatfeeling can certainly be
(15:50):
replicated, or ignited a newfeeling and a new vein of it if
you like at work. And I believethat is potential every single
team and it's very sad to methat, that people go to work and
don't have that. But I also makesure that everyone realizes that
it's not about the leader tomake that happen. We all play
(16:14):
our part to you know, it's notone person.
Zoran Stojkovic (16:17):
No, it's not.
We're all part of the culture.
And even on the teams wherepeople don't necessarily work on
culture, there's still aculture. And so I mean, Theresa
-- so what's what's at stake? Ifculture is left uncultivated?
Theresa Ito (16:34):
Wow, well, we are seeing it now. Certainly here in
BC, where we live. And I knowacross Canada, we're struggling
with, we're having such highturnover, we're finding it
difficult to fill positions,people are saying I don't want
to work here anymore. So highturnover, for sure. Productivity
(16:57):
definitely goes down. And youcan see that your customer
service scores, if you have anet promoter score, or if you
have a questionnaire that youknow is quantifiable that you
can measure, you will see itcome down. And ultimately in
your financials as well -- Zoranin the way I think about
(17:18):
leadership is like I'm driving atrain. And I've actually never
driven a train, I think I needto sometimes, but anyway, it's
like you're driving a train,you've got three dials on the
dashboard in front of you,you've got to make sure all of
those dials are functioning justlike a train driver. So one of
those dials is going to be yourdelighting your customers. How
(17:39):
delighted are your customers? Sohow are you getting feedback
from you know, your show yourpodcast? Is it to do with likes,
is it to do with feedback fromyou know, listeners, etc? Then
you have the other one, which isengaged employees, you know, so
how am I going to measure how myemployees are engaged, but you
just need to make sure thatyou've got your eye on that one
(18:01):
as well. And the third one isyour finances, because you could
have delighted guests,everyone's having a great time
at work and you're making nomoney, the train is going to
come off the track, if any ofthose three are not constantly,
and then you know, focused onall three of them. And that's
the ultimate role of a leader tomake sure those three pillars if
you like, are monitored, yeah.
And and I believe in radicaltransparency, you know, being
(18:26):
very open. So I believe insharing, you know, your average
check if your restaurant, or howmany covers you did tonight,
find something measurable, youwork with intelligent human
beings don't treat them anyless. If they want to buy it or
not, that's up to them. But you,as a leader should be sharing
(18:48):
certain amount of the financialswith if you're working towards a
budget and you're doing it onyour own, [LAUGHTER] you're
probably not going to do verywell, if you're not sharing
certainly the high level aspectsof it with your team, trust
them. Because if you put it outthere, they will come up with
ideas you have never thought of.
Zoran Stojkovic (19:08):
Interesting. So it's about having a tangible
metric and having something thatpeople can work towards
together. It's kind of like oneof those what I think of is, you
know, when the United Way,there's like the charities.
[INAUDIBLE] And you can see itpeople love that. But it's about
it's also about finding a metricthat's actually valid, reliable,
useful, because there's I mean,I'm sure there's metrics that
(19:30):
leaders can pick that aren'tjust out of curiosity, what are
your thoughts on sharing whatcompensation different people
make in an organization? How canthat impact culture?
Theresa Ito (19:41):
That's an interesting one. And I have
never worked in a corporateenvironment where that was done.
I know in my company here formyself, all of my associates
know what they're paid. Theyknow what they're paid for
projects. They know what they'repaid for the other The creation.
(20:02):
And they also know what I paymyself and I pay my husband as
well. Because I truly believeand live with radical
transparency, I would have to domore homework if someone said,
Do you think I should do it inmy business, I would have to do
my homework. The bottom line isonce you become an Executive
Leader, and you're living in thebooks, and there's, it doesn't
(20:24):
matter how many leaders thereare, you can figure out what
everyone else is being paidanyway, [LAUGHTER] if you have
any monetary sense anyway, so Iknew whatever all of all of the
other leaders were, when I wasin a lower than General Manager
position, it doesn't take arocket scientist to figure it
out, anyway.
Zoran Stojkovic (20:40):
It's one of those taboo themes that people
sometimes don't talk about. AndI think a challenging thing can
be if somebody ties their selfworth to how much they make, and
oh, this person makes more thanme. So that means they're worth
more. And that's a challengingconversation. So if people are
coming at it from thatperspective, it could be really
tricky, or if there'sperformance bonuses, but people
(21:00):
don't believe that this personshould be getting a performance
bonus, because X, Y, Z, so thatcan really chip at the culture
if it's not done the right way.
And I love what you said aroundit being very individualized,
based on the organization. Thething that I always come back to
when I think of culture is, it'sgreat. It's this word that gets
(21:21):
thrown around. It's important.
People know, it's importantpeople put in work to build it.
But it's notoriously hard tomeasure it. So I mean, how can
leaders measure and analyze teamculture, Theresa?
Theresa Ito (21:37):
Well, I'm a big believer in employee engagement
surveys, I do believe that youcan do a short survey, I'm not
really into the huge long ones.
But I do like periodic employeeengagement surveys, we're
talking five to 10 questions.
And certainly the 80% of themremain exactly the same every
(22:00):
every quarter if you're doing itevery quarter, or every six
months or every year. Becausethat's going to you have to have
a measuring stick, you can youcan make the others fluid, you
know, at the bottom, but thecore is going to be so that you
can see how you have increasedor decreased. But yeah, I truly
believe in employment, thingshave got so much easier as well
(22:22):
with tools like Survey Monkey,you know. So I mean, I can set
them up very inexpensively forclients. And certainly, with my
corporate experience of havingworked with Fairmont and Hilton
and the Meridian and Sandals, Ihave a great sense of what great
companies do and you know, soyeah, I feel very comfortable
(22:44):
with that. And, and I believethat just offering opportunities
for people to state how they'refeeling and the more you do that
in, in your meetings, your oneon ones, nothing will be a
surprise, you know, and, again,you're looking at the masses,
you'll always have those thatare highly motivated they could
(23:06):
be clearing the garbage fromfrom the back alley, and they're
highly motivated to do that. Andyou'll always have the ones who
are fairly negative. But if youfocus on the majority, that 80%
In the middle, you will you canand will move to a more positive
team culture, you try and get --you try and make sure everyone
(23:28):
is touched. You give the sameopportunities, your fair and
equal, but just know in yourheart that if you get stuck
focusing on that bottom group,it's gonna wear you down.
Zoran Stojkovic (23:38):
Right before COVID, some February, and the
beginning of March 2020. I gotto see Simon Sinek live Oh, wow.
Which was on Unreal, unreal. Andone of the things that he said
is, when you're doing whenyou're doing public speaking,
if, like I said, if I keeplooking at the people who got
their arms crossed, who aren'tengaging with me, I'm going to
(23:59):
be scared on the stage. So Ialso want to be looking at the
people who are nodding theirheads or making eye contact
taking notes. So in a similarway, what I'm hearing you say
is, yeah, focus on the peoplewho are bought into the culture,
maybe don't look so much of thepeople who aren't, but maybe
there's a time to do that aswell. But then if you can get
(24:19):
the third that's in the middleis kind of on the fence if you
can get them to buy in. And tojoin this side, you're gonna
have a critical mass.
Theresa Ito (24:26):
Yes, the tipping point. Right, yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (24:29):
The tipping point you cross that bridge.
Theresa Ito (24:32):
I've joined so many teams that were broken or
disillusioned or not, you know,dysfunctional, I would have to
say over the years in differentcountries and in different in
different businesses, and justbringing my best self to work
and saying out loud, presentingout loud, and everything I do is
(24:56):
making sure people knew what Iwas going for. Were we were and
then the one becomes three andthe three becomes six, and then
and then it just goes on it, itbecomes infectious. But also in
that time, you you and you willattract those great people and
you become the super attractorlike Gabby Bernstein wrote
about, you know, but also thatyou have to be aware and okay
(25:19):
with the fact that some peopleare going to leave you, and you
want them to I mean, you don'tpush them, they, but they
naturally they will think youknow what, I'm not, I don't want
this. And that's okay, let themgo with good grace, you know,
but you will attract the rightpeople, if you are sharing what
(25:41):
you're what you're doing. Butyou have to be a great
communicator.
Zoran Stojkovic (25:45):
Having the conversations, because
essentially, that's howrelationships are built and
after coaching somebody andgetting employee feedback and
doing things, there's stillgoing to be people that don't
fit in. And as you're saying,they might self select and leave
and find a space where they canbe the way they are. Whatever
that means. What I've heard aswell, and this is a saying
(26:08):
people always chuckle at if youcan't change the people, change
the people.
Theresa Ito (26:13):
Oh [LAUGHTER], interesting. I haven't heard
that one.
Zoran Stojkovic (26:16):
And I don't know where I heard it. So I
can't I can't quote the source.
But it just always stuck withme. Because I think sometimes
we're too quick to let people goand to to kind of lose hope and
not, you know, believe thatpeople can't change. But other
times, after a number ofattempts haven't come through, I
think there comes a point wherethe best thing for the team, and
(26:37):
the leader has to be the onethat make that decision is to,
to part ways with this person orpeople.
Theresa Ito (26:46):
And I so believe in people that even when my gut,
and my instinct is telling me,this particular person, don't
waste your time, don't import.
And I still do it anyway, tworeasons. Number one, I have had
it happen so many times thatthat person goes, Oh, thank you
(27:07):
for giving me this clear, intheir own words. Thank you for
giving me this clear guidance.
No one's ever told me like thatbefore. Thank you. And they go
off and do something about it.
And I'm just like, what happenedthere? And everyone else is
like, wow, look at him go now.
So that's one thing. Secondthing is everybody else is
(27:29):
watching you, your whole team iswatching you. So you have
someone failing, imagine it.
Imagine in your family you haveone of your children is failing.
Everyone else is watching howyou're going to handle that
because there's going to be atime that they're going to be
failing to. So they want to seethat you're going to be open,
you're going to be supportive.
If it's temporary, you're goingto prop them up, give them
(27:51):
everything they need to succeed,right. And that's an ultimately,
that's sending a big message toyou know, how am I? How am I
speaking about it? How am Itruly supporting it? Do I
support them up front? And thenbehind them? Like, oh, boy, he's
just a total waste of time? Oram I really genuine with it, you
know that. And it goes to eventimes that you do have to
(28:13):
release people. Andunfortunately, I've had to do
that once or twice, well,probably three or four times in
my career. And each of thosetimes, I'm very proud to say
hasn't been with a kick up thebackside as the person's going.
We tend to think of whensomeone's let go, we have to
make it a disgrace, callsecurity and marching off the
(28:34):
property handover your keys nowand I think this is so old
school and cruel and absolutelycruel. There are ways even apart
from yes, if someone has stolenfrom you, if someone has done
something really terrible, theydo need to leave immediately, I
get that. But do but do we speakabout them terribly after we
don't have to? It could be youknow, well, it doesn't mean that
(28:57):
everything they did beyondbefore today was disgraceful.
And and I really I do believethe rest of the team is watching
when you do that. And I justdon't believe that someone goes
from being a member of your teamto be an outcast the next day
because they did to resign orsomething. Yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (29:15):
That's interesting. It reminded me the
releasing people and there is asyou said, there was a time for
that. And it's there's a rightway to do that. There's a
company and I can't think of thename. And they have this policy
that anybody in the company canask any other employee,
including the CEO could put in acase that this person should be
(29:36):
fired. And then these two peoplego in front of the not the
tribunal but in front of thepeople
Theresa Ito (29:43):
The board, yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (29:44):
Yeah. I mean, but I think in front of their
colleagues.
Theresa Ito (29:47):
Wow.
Zoran Stojkovic (29:47):
And they have to this person who is challenged
that they should be leaving hasto defend why they want to stay.
Theresa Ito (29:55):
Wow.
Zoran Stojkovic (29:55):
They find what that is sometimes people
actually do realize It's asignal that, hey, you're
actually not fitting in. Andmaybe there's a better space for
you and your personaldevelopment. And so although it
sounds super daunting[LAUGHTER], and I think the CEO
said, nobody's asked to have himfired before kind of thing
(30:17):
[LAUGHTER], so there's stillpower dynamic.
Theresa Ito (30:19):
Yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (30:19):
But it's it sort of makes it more equal. And
it lets people voice whatthey're thinking. And I think
it's a unique way to resolvediscourse, disagreement
argument, different viewpoints,bias, and stuff like that.
Theresa Ito (30:34):
Oh, it sounds horrible. [LAUGHTER] You know,
when I think when I think aboutbuilding trust, and and the fact
that you and I could have aprivate conversation, if I felt
there was something you saidwrong in a group, or you could
say to me, can I have aconversation then you say
Theresa the way you rolled youreyes when I said, when I
mentioned this in a group, Ifelt disrespected. I want I want
(30:59):
that you can come to me and saythat rather than put me in the
market square by the news.
[LAUGHTER]
Zoran Stojkovic (31:07):
Yeah, for sure.
And I think --
Theresa Ito (31:09):
[LAUGHTER] It's
Zoran Stojkovic (31:11):
It is.
Theresa Ito (31:12):
I like to play the ggame but not in real life.
Zoran Stojkovic (31:15):
No, simulation, for sure.
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(31:38):
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(31:59):
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So Teresa, we have a questionfrom one of our listeners. His
name is Christian Rabb. And he'sfrom the Laurentians in ski
(32:21):
country north of Montreal. SoChristian asks, How can leaders
accelerate the evolution ofculture?
Theresa Ito (32:29):
Some would say the Speed of Trust in and they say,
people, relationships buildslowly. I do believe that. But
ultimately, what does speed teamculture is more people that
believe in what you believe in.
So having like minded, thatdoesn't mean clones of who you
(32:52):
are, you still want thatdiversity. So but but people who
ultimately want the same thingthat you do so surrounding
yourself with people who believein something, so there is power
in numbers, no doubt. So havingpeople that also believe in, I
remember one property I startedat, then I had two other
(33:13):
significant, I was the generalmanager, then I had two other
significant leaders who weretotally in alignment with where
we were moving the propertytowards. And I felt the sense
and I like, they, I receivedthose two leaders about three
months after, and I felt thesense like, I'm not on my own
anymore. And then I remember sixmonths later, there was probably
(33:36):
another three leaders who hadjoined us, you know, the company
was growing and then I feltlike, Okay, we got this wasn't
before it felt like, I was a bitof a lone wolf. And I'm more of
a wolf pack. [LAUGHTER] Yes. Sothat would be having people what
was the second part of thequestion?
Zoran Stojkovic (33:57):
So he also asked, how do you change a bad
culture?
Theresa Ito (34:02):
Oh, okay. Time, honesty, communication. Holding
people accountable. Feedback,giving feedback. And I mean,
when you see someone doingsomething, let's say someone
(34:23):
responds to an email to anunhappy customer. And you see
that email, you're like, Damn,that's really great. Then call
Manu and ask her Manu, I readthat email from that you sent
that guest. That'sextraordinary. I love the way
you did that. So it's feedbackboth ways. We tend to think
feedbacks always negative,absolutely not. You know, so
(34:45):
find so many. There are so manythings around instead of going
right then say it, you know, tothe point that I mean, I came in
the other day, I said, I justlove working with you, Nadia, I
just feel like we're just movingin the same direction and you
know, and she hasn't doneanything. She's like, Oh, thank
you very much. But it's honest,and it's transparent. But it
(35:06):
also makes it a lot easier whenI have to have those
conversations where the feedbackisn't or, but also, I expect
that from her to say, Theresa,I'm not sure if you noticed this
spelling error in your jobposting. I know you've already
sent it out. But can you run itby me before you do? That's what
I'm here for. And she'sabsolutely junior to me. But all
(35:27):
of a sudden, she's supervaluable to me, too.
Zoran Stojkovic (35:30):
So you're essentially reaching across the
aisle first, to share thispositive feedback of what people
are doing well. And then you'resaying that invites them to
later on as you do that more andmore often? To give you some of
the feedback that you need tohear. You don't want them doing
the the corporate nod and justbe, no.
Theresa Ito (35:51):
No, not at all.
When I walk through theproperty. For example, if I'm
back to being a hotel manager,you know, I want people to say,
hey, you know, Theresa, have alook at this, this has been
leaking for three weeks now, orthree days now, or three hours,
whatever it might be. And youknow, and we've reported it, and
I don't know what it is, and Igo, thank you very much. I'll
(36:11):
follow up with maintenance. AndI don't want maintenance to "Oh,
did he complain to you?" No,it's yes, he bought stuff to
you. I'm trying really hard toget the part. This is where I'm
struggling. That's what I wantto hear. That's when I know the
culture is great. But if I'mgoing to walk past and I'm going
to say, Good morning, Zoran. Andyou're going to go morning,
Theresa, and we're all holdinghands and singing Kumbaya and no
one's being honest, then. Andreally, are we really aiming
(36:35):
towards those three things? Howare we delighting the customers?
How are we, you know, engagedemployees, we're not. I remember
one property when I said, I wanteveryone to take personal
responsibility, because we had away to go to raise this property
up. And I let all the team knowI was new into this property.
And I met with them all in theirtime, the morning team in the
(36:57):
morning, afternoon and night.
Well, three nights later, I gota phone call at two o'clock in
the morning. And the gentlemanon the end of the phone, I'll do
my Jamaican accent. Yeah, MissDickinson. It's dread. And this
pool chemical not working atall. And he was phoning me up.
He was the night cleaner ofround the pool deck. And he felt
(37:21):
compelled. And I applauded him.
And I told the whole team that Igot a call at two o'clock in the
morning, they were just like,what? And I said, Because dread
works from 11pm at night toseven in the morning. And he he
heard from my voice three daysearlier, care about your area,
let me know if there's somethingand he was telling me that the
chemical just simply wasn't goodenough. And that there was one
(37:41):
he had used. It was blue incolor. And about seven years
ago, we found it, it wasexpensive. But boy, did it work.
[LAUGHTER] And we got it in?
Yeah.
Zoran Stojkovic (37:53):
Wow. That that's a great example of this,
you know, you building thattrust to those team meetings and
really being open andvulnerable, and also
communicating your ownexpectations of values. And then
people when people are clear onthat, they can know how to
engage you. And then yourewarded him by saying, Wow,
good for you for taking -- Ithink you call it personal
(38:16):
responsibility for your role.
And because you mentioned thatat the next meeting, it probably
invited more people to do it notto call you at 2am necessarily,
but
Theresa Ito (38:26):
But you know what, sorry, if calling me at 2am What
was that doing that wasdelighting the guests by getting
a cleaner pool deck that wasengaging him because he's
frustrated at work that they --he's been getting a substandard
and expected to have a sparklingpool deck. No one's actually
asking him why. And thirdly,yes, the financials of it. It
(38:48):
was more expensive. I justexplained it to him. Listen,
this one comes from Ecolab. Thisone comes from wherever. And he
said, But Miss Dickinson, youhaven't seen me work at it. That
was my previous name. And Isaid, What do you mean? And he
said, We don't need half as muchof this chemical. You just you
see me tomorrow morning. And hesaid when I came into property,
I heard him say, here she comes.
Here she comes. I hope you haveyour sunglasses on. Because it
(39:09):
sparkles so nicely. [LAUGHTER]
Zoran Stojkovic (39:15):
Thank you so much. I think Christian will be
super happy with that answer.
Theresa Ito (39:19):
Yeah. Thanks, Christian.
Zoran Stojkovic (39:21):
So your company, Blue Mountain Solutions
offers leadership developmentand customer service training.
Tell us about how you do thatwith organizations.
Theresa Ito (39:32):
Yeah, well, the reason why we do it and I love
Simon Sinek and that's, youknow, start with why, right. And
so when I think about why we doit is we just feel that there
are easier ways. We don't wantpeople to be unhappy about being
leaders and oh, it's difficultto lead people. No, it's
invigorating. It's exciting.
It's, where you can multiplyyour worth. It's, where it's at,
(39:55):
and we just think that we canhelp you get there. And you
don't have to go through allthose trials and tribulations
yourself. Same with customerservice, there are so many ways
to show it. Particularly now,when everyone is nervous about
going back into the public, youknow, there are things that we
(40:16):
can do that just warmingpeople's heart. And also no one
else is doing them. So you know,you look like a rock star when
you're doing some pretty basicthings like a handwritten note
to an employee, when a leaderdoes that saying, Thank you for
sticking with me, for the lastdifficult three months when we
were closed for two days, andwhatever it may be a handwritten
(40:38):
note from a leader, when lasthave you got one, you know, it's
just brilliant. So what we do iswe do leadership development,
that's four days over fourmonths, so that the information
has a chance to really sink in,they have a chance to try it.
And then it really slowly shiftsthe culture, I start with the
(41:01):
leaders. And then we move on toall the colleagues and do
customer service and colleaguedevelopment as well. But before
all of that we always do amystery guest that's part of it
as well, we come in and look atyour business from a customer's
perspective. So regardless ofwhat business you do, I come
like a customer, and deal withwhoever I would normally deal
(41:22):
with, I check out your website,we do a full factual report on
it before I get involved withyou as a business so I'm
refreshed as can be. And I getto question everything, and it's
documented the good, the bad,and the ugly. And then we know
where the opportunities lie,then I speak to the leaders find
out from them what they'restruggling with, speak to the
(41:42):
colleagues and then we set anaction plan and, and make people
happier. [LAUGHTER]
Zoran Stojkovic (41:48):
That's amazing.
So you go in as a mystery guest?
Theresa Ito (41:52):
Every time.
Zoran Stojkovic (41:52):
And how you don't think they they warn their
team that you're coming in?
Theresa Ito (41:57):
No.
Zoran Stojkovic (41:57):
Hey, guys, do your best behavior. Teresa's
coming in.
Theresa Ito (42:01):
[LAUGHTER] But I never go in as as my name.
[LAUGHTER]
Zoran Stojkovic (42:04):
Oh.
Theresa Ito (42:05):
I go in under a pseudonym. And yeah, and I go in
with different people. Sosometimes I'm with an elderly
person, sometimes I'm with adog, if it's a dog friendly
area. Sometimes it's by phone,but it's in person wherever
possible. But then again, ifthey're, phone focused, and over
(42:26):
the last 18 months, mostbusinesses have been then it was
several, several phone calls,several visits of the website,
where do things go? How or whenwas I responded to, and again by
by recording everything veryfactually. Then we sit down and
we're able to pull out some realgems and a good starting point
(42:46):
of an action plan. And yeah,it's fun, though. But the
mystery guests, I mean,literally, I am going to Jamaica
this time. Next week, I'll be inJamaica, on a mystery guest day
and no, I won't tell you whereI'm going and under what name
for for three nights before Iwork with the clients. I did it
in Mexico as well. And yeah, so.
Zoran Stojkovic (43:07):
that's not too bad. You get to go on vacation,
and --
Theresa Ito (43:10):
And my husband's an executive chef, so they get get
his eyes on things too. Right.
They get his so but between usthere's probably I don't know
eight years of experience in --Yeah. When we do hotels and
restaurants anyway.
Zoran Stojkovic (43:24):
if people are wanting to connect, ask you
questions. I know you're you'reon a lot of the social media
channels, what's the best wayfor people to connect with you
and to find out more about thecompany?
Theresa Ito (43:33):
Definitely bluemountain.solutions is the
company website, Instagram, it'ssimply bluemountainsolutions on
Instagram and LinkedIn. I'mTeresa Ito. So however you wish
to contact me by any of thoseways, myself and my husband and
all of our associates. workhere, so.
Zoran Stojkovic (43:54):
Amazing.
Theresa, any parting thoughtsfor listeners?
Theresa Ito (43:58):
Be kind, realize that the people you work with
you probably spend more timewith them than the people you're
married to. So if you can reallyhave fun at work, not at the
expense of anyone else, buttruly connect with the people
you work with understand theirlanguage, that could be their
language of appreciation, thenyou really get to have some fun
(44:21):
work should be fun as well,yeah. I love what I do, and we
love what we do. And yeah, Ihope I hope this has been
entertaining. [LAUGHTER]
Zoran Stojkovic (44:32):
There's a ton I learned in the conversation with
Theresa. But if there's onething I want you to take away,
it's this as a leader start bycommunicating clearly, openly
and directly. Let people knowwhat they're doing well, and
that will open up the door forthem to give you feedback as
well in turn that will boostemployee engagement and
cultivate a cohesive culture onyour team. Join us next time for
(44:53):
a conversation with Rita Severfrom supervision matters as we
deep dive into how to cultivateEquity and Inclusion And why
that's a competitive advantagefor any team.
Hey, thanks for listening tocultivate your culture. I hope
you enjoyed our deep dive intohow to level up the
relationships and environment tocultivate your team's culture.
(45:16):
If you enjoyed this episode,share it with someone in your
life, leave a rating andsubscribe visit Kizo.ca/podcast
to get extra resources and joinour email list. A huge shoutout
to Teriyaki from earbuds forproducing the music for this
show and to Kate Leavitt andSilvio Canale-Parola for helping
produce and promote the show.
Cultivate Your Cultures producedby Kizo, a leadership coaching
(45:38):
organization helping teams toget the results they want so
that they can positively impactthe world. To learn more about
the services Kizo can providefor your team, please checkout
our website at kizo.ca/team. Seeyou again next week.
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